Wednesday, May 11, 2005
GAME 34: YANKEES 13, MARINERS 9
Yankees 13, Mariners 9
In 25 words or less: If this game didn't infuriate you, I don't know what else could possibly do it. Mariners Baseball: What A Show!
NOTE: Also see Jeremy's top-notch recap, right below this post if you're not in the archive.
This one featured Jamie Moyer and Carl Pavano. Yogi Berra turns 80 tomorrow, and his birthday was observed at the stadium, and he threw out the first pitch. Remember, if Yogi hands you some cash, it's just as good as money.
TOP 1ST
Grade: A
The big inning returns! Ichiro got behind 0-2 but two pitches later, he hit a roller down the first-base line. Tino Martinez went to play it, but Pavano was a bit late getting to the bag, and that was more than enough time for Ichiro to beat out any throw. Randy Winn hit a hard grounder to Alex Rodriguez at third, who had to wait for Rey Sanchez to move to and cover second base. Rodriguez airmailed Sanchez and the ball went into rightfield. Ichiro went to third, and Winn was at first. Adrian Beltre foul-tipped a 1-2 pitch for strike three, or so the plate umpire thought. Replays showed that catcher Jorge Posada short-hopped the ball and trapped it. Manager Mike Hargrove came out to argue, and asked for the opinion of the second-base umpire, but was never able to get one. Then Richie Sexson stuck the third pitch over the wall in rightfield.
»» MARINERS 3, YANKEES 0
Raul Ibañez worked a 1-2 count full, then ripped a pitch up the middle for a single. Bret Boone then reached Monument Park in leftcenter on a 1-1 pitch.
»» MARINERS 5, YANKEES 0
Jeremy Reed singled hard up the middle to snap an 0-for-11 streak, then stole second without a throw on the first pitch to Miguel Olivo. Olivo whiffed at one pitch, fouled off two more, then whiffed at the fourth. Ditto for Wilson Valdez. Pavano threw 34 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: F
Sure as sh#&, they gave it all back. Derek Jeter lined a single to rightfield on the second pitch of the inning. Tony Womack rolled one to the right side for a double-play ball. Boone underhanded to Valdez, who didn't catch the ball at all, let alone throw the ball to first. Thus, there were two on with nobody out instead of two out and nobody on with Gary Sheffield at the plate. Right after the error, I had the feeling this inning might go to crap. I thought the Yankees would at least get those two runners across. The Yankees pulled a double steal on the 2-1 pitch to Sheffield, again with no throw. Sheffield walked on the 3-1 pitch to make the double steal a little bit moot. Then Hideki Matsui rocked one into the gap in leftcenter to clear the bases.
»» MARINERS 5, YANKEES 3
Alex Rodriguez stung a 2-0 pitch into leftfield, and it was hit too hard to score Matsui, who stayed at third on the single. Tino Martinez had a 2-0 count, but then decided to break up the monotony by whiffing on a 2-2 pitch in the dirt. Jorge Posada then smoked a single to leftfield and Matsui crawled in using a seal walk.
»» MARINERS 5, YANKEES 4
Bernie Williams joined the hit parade as well, singling into leftfield. Rodriguez was coming toward the plate on the play, but Winn had already bobbled the ball a bit before making a throw, which was way up the line and went past Olivo (Moyer backed up on the play, as should any pitcher). There went the five-run lead!
»» MARINERS 5, YANKEES 5
Rey Sanchez mercifully ended it, grounding a ball to Valdez, who stepped on second and threw to first for the double play. Moyer threw 34 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C+
The offense had a small bit of a hangover. Ichiro hit a high fly to right. Winn dumped a single into centerfield. Beltre smacked a 1-1 laser over Womack's glove in leftfield for a double. Sexson looked at a strike, whiffed for another, and then whiffed at a low breaking ball for the third. Ibañez grounded out to second to end the inning. Pavano threw 14 pitches.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: C
The Mariners were Womack'd upside the head. Jeter bounced out to Beltre on the first pitch of the inning. Womack hit a ball that Boone backhanded and stopped, but he couldn't come up with it and throw. Womack stole second on the first pitch to Sheffield, and Olivo couldn't come up with the ball behind the plate, and therefore made no throw. On the 1-1 pitch to Sheffield, Womack took off for third and Olivo had the ball pop out of his glove and hence, no throw. It's kinda hard to flash that throwing arm when you can't come up with the ball. Sheffield hit the 1-2 pitch up the middle, and Boone bobbled it in the outfield, though getting Sheffield at first would have been a tough play anyway. Womack scored easily, and the Yankees had the lead.
»» YANKEES 6, MARINERS 5
It appeared the Yankees weren't done yet, as Matsui singled through the hole on the right side. Rodriguez took a 1-2 pitch over the inside corner to give everyone a small chuckle before they buried their faces in their hands and cried. Martinez worked an 0-2 count full before grounding out to Sexson, who stepped on the bag. Moyer threw 26 pitches and had 60 through two.
TOP 3RD
Grade: C-
Pavano protected his newfound lead with a 1-2-3 inning. Boone whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Reed whiffed at a high pitch with the same count. Olivo took Sheffield to the warning track in the gap on an 0-2 pitch. Pavano threw 13 pitches and was at 61 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: B-
The inning started ominously. Posada hit a ball off the wall in leftcenter, but it bounced right back to Winn, who quickly threw back to second to hold Posada to a single. Williams had a 3-1 count before hitting a full-count pitch off the end of the bat into the leftfield corner for a double. Runners were on second and third with nobody out. Sanchez hit a shallow fly to centerfield, and Valdez was able to reach over his shoulder and make the catch.
So went Jamie Moyer. Matt Thornton came into the game, and Rick Rizzs made sure to note that Thornton was gaining more and more confidence with every outing. Thornton came in with an ERA of 3.95. He proceeded to get a grounder to Boone with the infield up, then Ichiro made a running catch on a fly ball from Womack. Good enough. Thornton threw five pitches.
Moyer's line: 2 1/3 innings, 6 runs (5 earned), 10 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 71 pitches (43 strikes)
TOP 4TH
Grade: A
The Long Ball makes scoring runs a snap. Valdez flew out to left on 0-2. Ichiro took three balls, then put a lick on the 3-1 pitch, lining it over the fence in rightfield to tie it. The game was getting a bit too weird indeed. This was the Mariners' first three-homer game of the season.
»» YANKEES 6, MARINERS 6
Winn flew out to Matsui on the first pitch. Beltre hit a ball to Rodriguez at third, and it popped out of his glove. He threw to first, but it wasn't in time as a glorious E5 went into the books. Sexson had a 3-1 count and took a full-count pitch in the dirt for a free pass. Ibanez got down 0-2 and got something juicy to hit on 2-2. He put a good hurtin' on the ball, though when it hit the bat, I didn't think it was going to reach the upper deck in rightfield. It did. The Mariners somehow grabbed the lead, and a decent margin to boot. Hey, guess what? That's the Mariners' first four-homer game of the season.
»» MARINERS 9, YANKEES 6
Boone crushed the first pitch to the 399-foot marker in leftcenter over Womack's head (there's a chance Womack could have caught it). Boone had his mind made up that he was going to third, and the cutoff man Jeter ate the ball, though I thought he might have had a play on Boone steaming into third. Anyway, that went for a triple. Unfortunately, there were two out, and Reed grounded out to second on the first pitch. Pavano threw 27 pitches.
Pavano's line: 4 innings, 9 runs (5 earned), 10 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 88 pitches (60 strikes)
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: F
Here I don't get a TNT Inside the NBA promo for an upcoming showing of the movie Eraser, and I don't get the pleasure that comes from hearing Charles Barkley ripping the movie. Sheffield fouled off four pitches with a full count (including a couple that were close to being doubles down the leftfield line) before walking on a breaking ball up and in. Matsui tapped one to Sexson, who threw to second to get the lead runner. Rodriguez saw three balls, then a strike, then ball four inside. If you think like I do, you had the feeling that Tino was going to park one right here. You didn't care that Tino had an 0-2 count. He took two pitches for balls before lifting off on the 2-2 pitch, reaching that front railing over the fence in rightfield. Matt Thornton was fit to be tied, except literally.
»» YANKEES 9, MARINERS 9
Posada fouled off a 3-1 pitch, and then took a very high ball four. Bryan Price came to the mound to see what the hell was going on. Williams tapped to Thornton off the mound, and he lobbed to first. Sanchez grounded the first pitch to Valdez. Thornton threw a mere 33 pitches.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C
Paul Quantrill came in for Pavano, making me harken back to Quantrill's Toronto days when the Mariners used to just crush him. Those were the days, though, and that wouldn't happen today. Olivo and Valdez both grounded out to short. Ichiro grounded one toward the third-base line, and Rodriguez made a nice effort running to foul ground and getting off a throw, but it was late, and Ichiro got the infield single. Winn had a 2-0 count and hit a 2-2 grounder up the middle and off Jeter's glove into centerfield. Beltre ended the threat with a grounder back to the mound. Quantrill threw 15 pitches.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: D
Thornton still had some juice left in the tank. Jeter hit the first freakin' pitch of the inning just over the wall in rightcenter to put the Yankees back into the lead.
»» YANKEES 10, MARINERS 9
Womack grounded one up the middle for a single. Womack stole second on the second pitch to Sheffield. That was rendered moot when Sheffield crushed the 1-1 pitch into Monument Park (leftcenter).
»» YANKEES 12, MARINERS 9
Matsui looked at two strikes and whiffed on an inside pitch.
Thornton had to at least go out with one batter's worth of a good note, I guess. Shigetoshi Hasegawa came in for Thornton. I thought that all the game was missing was a brawl, and Hasegawa nailed Rodriguez on the elbow with a 1-2 pitch. Martinez fouled off a 1-2 pitch before grounding a ball to Sexson, who stepped on first and threw to Valdez at short, who tagged out Rodriguez to end the inning. Hasegawa threw nine pitches.
Thornton's line: 2 innings, 6 runs, 4 hits, 3 walks, 1 strikeout, 48 pitches (29 strikes)
TOP 6TH
Grade: C-
The Mariners would respond by going away 1-2-3. Sexson got down 0-2 and eventually grounded out to third. Ibañez got down 0-2 as well, taking a 1-2 pitch tailing back over the plate for strike three. Boone grounded out to Rodriguez, who knocked the ball down, had some trouble picking it up, but still nailed Boone at third to end the inning. Quantrill threw 11 pitches.
Quantrill's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 26 pitches (19 strikes)
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B-
This inning got a bit sketchy. Posada tapped back to the mound. Williams grounded a ball to Sexson, who had the ball go off his glove as he overran it (error). The Yankees put on the hit-and-run, and Sanchez hit a ball to the right side, but Boone had already broken toward second. Usually such a hit would go into rightfield with no one near it, but Boone nearly got a glove on it before it went into rightfield. Jeter had a 3-0 count that went full. He hit a ball deep down the rightfield line which was originally called as a homer, and Ichiro and a few Mariners immediately had a problem with that, since the ball went to the right of the foul pole by a few feet. After some lobbying, the umpires got the call right, and the runners and Jeter were called back to the field. It didn't get any less weird. Jeter struck out looking, and Olivo snap threw back to Hasegawa, who checked the runner at third and looked to have had Sanchez in a rundown between first and second. He took a little too long to throw the ball, and somehow Sanchez snuck back to first past the Sexson tag, which was late because of the throw. Womack hit a fly ball down the leftfield line, and Winn almost made the same catch that made the highlight reels earlier in the series, except there was no leap this time. Hasegawa threw 16 pitches.
Hasegawa's line: 1 2/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 25 pitches (17 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Grade: C
(Dar)Tanyon Sturtze came in for Quantrill. This is where I express my long-held belief that no team with Tanyon Sturtze on its roster will win a World Series. Hey, his team had a 3-0 series lead on Boston last year and lost it, so maybe I've got something here. Reed had an 0-2 count and ended up rolling one to second. Olivo grounded the second pitch to Rodriguez. Valdez stuck a 3-1 pitch through the hole on the right side for a single. Ichiro got down 0-2 and eventually lined softly to Rodriguez. Sturtze threw 17 pitches.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: A-
Jeff Nelson came in for Hasegawa and actually did pretty well, though it took a few pitches. Sheffield was down 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 frisbee outside. Matsui got ahead 2-0, but the count went full. He grounded out to Boone. Rodriguez got down 0-2, took two pitches for balls, then whiffed on a frisbee outside. Back in 2000, Rodriguez whiffed on the same pitch as a Mariner at the Safe with the bases loaded, then Edgar came up behind him and hit a grand slam. Good times. Nelson threw 16 pitches.
Nelson's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 16 pitches (10 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: C-
I really get angry when Sturtze is able to shut down my team, since I remember his hack days in Tampa Bay. Winn flew out to leftfield. Beltre grounded out to short. Sexson whiffed on a low breaking ball. Sturtze threw 13 pitches.
Sturtze's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 30 pitches (17 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C
JJ Putz came in for Nelson. Martinez got down 0-2 before flying out foul to Beltre near the bag at third. Posada hit a 2-2 rainmaker that took about ten seconds to come down just barely over the wall in rightfield.
»» YANKEES 13, MARINERS 9
Williams grounded the first pitch to the right side, and Boone picked the ball off the outfield grass and nailed the slow Williams in time. Sanchez grounded out to Boone to end the inning.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 1 run, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 13 pitches (9 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C-
Tom Gordon came in for Sturtze, and on the KOMO radio broadcast, some guy from Bremerton (a random Adam) had the misfortune of getting his name drawn for the Home Run Inning contest in a game where the Mariners had already hit four homers. Ibañez worked a 1-2 count full before whiffing on a ball up and away. Boone got down 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 breaking ball. At this point, Dave Niehaus said, "it's going to be a loooooong flight home, baby." Reed bounced the 1-1 pitch to the hole on the left side, and it was nicely placed as Jeter had no play and ate it. Greg Dobbs came in to pinch hit for Olivo, and he tapped the first pitch to Tino. Ballgame.
Gordon's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 15 pitches (10 strikes)
---
Gameball: Jeremy Reed.
Nice to see a multi-hit game out of Jeremy Reed, who had been quiet for a while. He went 2-for-5 and stole a base. I guess I'm a little apprehensive to pick one of the middle third of the lineup, each of whom struck out twice and/or made errors. Ichiro would of course be the too-obvious choice, and Winn could easily be in this spot as well, though he bobbled the one throw when Rodriguez scored, though asking Winn to get a good throw home might be a little too much to ask. I'm just hoping that Reed can warm up a little more so that he can sneak back into that #2 slot in the lineup, and especially if Adrian Beltre gets even warmer, then Reed can see all those juicy pitches and stuff. That's also so Winn can solidify the bottom third of the lineup, which will be a black hole as long as Miguel Olivo and Wilson Valdez are down there.
Goat: Matt Thornton.
There's definitely more than one possible choice for the goat. There's Jamie Moyer, of course, and there's also Wilson Valdez, who opened the floodgates with his crippling error in the first on what should have been a double play. Today, however, I'm going with Matt Thornton, who turned a three-run lead into a three-run deficit in absolutely amazing fashion. Two of his three walks came home to score on the Tino Martinez homer. When the Yankees got the lead back, they weren't waiting for walks, they were just mashing anything that Thornton threw up to the plate. Oh, that ERA that I mentioned? He came in with an ERA of 3.95, and hit the showers with an ERA of 6.89. That's a jump of 42.7%. Matt Thornton's ERA has gone WAY UP!! OH, HEMOGLOBIN!!
It's way too "last year," isn't it? Sometimes you get pitching, sometimes you get hitting. But getting both to happen in the same game is key. It hardly ever happened last year. The Mariners have been waiting for two weeks to get the offense on track, and today they did. Conversely, the pitching didn't show up. I've been harping on the starting pitching the last couple turns through the rotation, and today Jamie Moyer had his third crappy start in a row.
Actually, let's go through the last two turns in the rotation.
1 May (OAK): Piñeiro -- 8 innings, 3 runs, 8 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 100 pitches (69 strikes)
2 May (Angels): Franklin -- 5 innings, 5 runs, 5 hits, 5 walks, 3 strikeouts, 89 pitches (53 strikes)
3 May: Meche -- 8 innings, 5 runs, 8 hits, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts, 105 pitches (73 strikes)
4 May: Sele -- 4 1/3 innings, 4 runs, 6 hits, 5 walks, 2 strikeouts, 84 pitches (45 strikes)
6 May (BOS): Moyer -- 2 2/3 innings, 6 runs, 7 hits, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, 72 pitches (45 strikes)
8 May: Piñeiro -- 7 innings, 6 runs, 10 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 109 pitches (69 strikes)
8 May: Franklin -- 6 innings, 2 runs, 6 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 97 pitches (61 strikes)
9 May (NYY): Meche -- 6 2/3 innings, 3 runs, 6 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 102 pitches (56 strikes)
10 May: Sele -- 2 2/3 innings, 7 runs (6 earned), 8 hits, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts, 64 pitches (35 strikes)
11 May: Moyer -- 2 1/3 innings, 6 runs (5 earned), 10 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 71 pitches (43 strikes)
So, I've decided to be dorky for today's game post and I've plugged this crap into an Excel table. What's the sum of this stuff? 53 innings, 47 runs (45 earned), 74 hits, 21 walks, 27 strikeouts, 893 pitches (549 strikes). Just move a decimal place into all of those if you want a per-game average. What's the starters' combined ERA for this whole mess? Try 7.69.
Looking back at that stretch, I know there's probably only three decent outings out of those ten: the Franklin outing in the Sunday nightcap, the Meche outing the first game of the Yankee series, and the Piñeiro outing where he got the shaft on the first day of May. We know the bats came alive today, and we know that the bats have been getting a lot of the blame lately for being horrific and stagnant. On the other hand, WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU GOING TO DO IF YOUR STARTING PITCHERS' ERAs COME OUT TO 7.69?!??!!!?! I know the offense hasn't been doing great, but you'd need a lineup of nine Albert Pujols clones to score eight runs on a nightly basis to make up for the starting rotation's ineffectiveness (putting it politely) during this stretch. On an individual basis, and though the numbers will be hugely skewed, the ERAs are Piñeiro with 5.40, Franklin with 5.73, Meche with 4.90, Sele with 12.86, and Moyer with 19.80. Moyer's ERA over his last two starts is only 0.01 short of my birth year. His current full-season ERA is now sitting at 5.53.
Well, I guess I'll talk about the bats now. Seven of the Mariners' 14 hits went for extra bases. Multi-hit games came from Ichiro (3-for-5), Randy Winn (2-for-5), Raul Ibañez (2-for-5), Bret Boone (2-for-5), and the aforementioned Reed (gameball). Richie Sexson only had the one homer, but it was a three-run shot; he also drew the only walk for the Mariners today. Raul Ibañez had the three-run shot as well which built the lead that Thornton kicked away. Bret Boone had the homer and the triple to boost the ailing slugging percentage a bit. Adrian Beltre had a double as his only hit, but also stranded four. All in all, it was a nice day for the bats, and I loved that they tattooed Carl Pavano. The fact that Pavano and Jaret Wright were two of the biggest catches of the free-agent pitching market of last winter still befuddles me, and I'm glad the Mariners didn't get either, and I don't care if their own rotation is screwed right now. I'm convinced those two guys are one-year wonders.
Ten of 11. That's bad, no question about it. What's the solution? Well, I'm feeling a lot better about the bats than I was five days ago, but I'm still wary and I want to see how it holds up over the next couple of days. With the starting rotation, though...it's a whole different story. It's got to be pretty bad if Larry LaRue comes out with a column headlined, "Blowup leaves Sele’s job teetering." Jeremy echoed such sentiment yesterday. I guess the simple solution to that is...let's get Campy!! New pitchers are fun, but they won't save you money on car insurance.
Gonzalez. Piñeiro. Thursday.
In 25 words or less: If this game didn't infuriate you, I don't know what else could possibly do it. Mariners Baseball: What A Show!
NOTE: Also see Jeremy's top-notch recap, right below this post if you're not in the archive.
This one featured Jamie Moyer and Carl Pavano. Yogi Berra turns 80 tomorrow, and his birthday was observed at the stadium, and he threw out the first pitch. Remember, if Yogi hands you some cash, it's just as good as money.
TOP 1ST
Grade: A
The big inning returns! Ichiro got behind 0-2 but two pitches later, he hit a roller down the first-base line. Tino Martinez went to play it, but Pavano was a bit late getting to the bag, and that was more than enough time for Ichiro to beat out any throw. Randy Winn hit a hard grounder to Alex Rodriguez at third, who had to wait for Rey Sanchez to move to and cover second base. Rodriguez airmailed Sanchez and the ball went into rightfield. Ichiro went to third, and Winn was at first. Adrian Beltre foul-tipped a 1-2 pitch for strike three, or so the plate umpire thought. Replays showed that catcher Jorge Posada short-hopped the ball and trapped it. Manager Mike Hargrove came out to argue, and asked for the opinion of the second-base umpire, but was never able to get one. Then Richie Sexson stuck the third pitch over the wall in rightfield.
»» MARINERS 3, YANKEES 0
Raul Ibañez worked a 1-2 count full, then ripped a pitch up the middle for a single. Bret Boone then reached Monument Park in leftcenter on a 1-1 pitch.
»» MARINERS 5, YANKEES 0
Jeremy Reed singled hard up the middle to snap an 0-for-11 streak, then stole second without a throw on the first pitch to Miguel Olivo. Olivo whiffed at one pitch, fouled off two more, then whiffed at the fourth. Ditto for Wilson Valdez. Pavano threw 34 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: F
Sure as sh#&, they gave it all back. Derek Jeter lined a single to rightfield on the second pitch of the inning. Tony Womack rolled one to the right side for a double-play ball. Boone underhanded to Valdez, who didn't catch the ball at all, let alone throw the ball to first. Thus, there were two on with nobody out instead of two out and nobody on with Gary Sheffield at the plate. Right after the error, I had the feeling this inning might go to crap. I thought the Yankees would at least get those two runners across. The Yankees pulled a double steal on the 2-1 pitch to Sheffield, again with no throw. Sheffield walked on the 3-1 pitch to make the double steal a little bit moot. Then Hideki Matsui rocked one into the gap in leftcenter to clear the bases.
»» MARINERS 5, YANKEES 3
Alex Rodriguez stung a 2-0 pitch into leftfield, and it was hit too hard to score Matsui, who stayed at third on the single. Tino Martinez had a 2-0 count, but then decided to break up the monotony by whiffing on a 2-2 pitch in the dirt. Jorge Posada then smoked a single to leftfield and Matsui crawled in using a seal walk.
»» MARINERS 5, YANKEES 4
Bernie Williams joined the hit parade as well, singling into leftfield. Rodriguez was coming toward the plate on the play, but Winn had already bobbled the ball a bit before making a throw, which was way up the line and went past Olivo (Moyer backed up on the play, as should any pitcher). There went the five-run lead!
»» MARINERS 5, YANKEES 5
Rey Sanchez mercifully ended it, grounding a ball to Valdez, who stepped on second and threw to first for the double play. Moyer threw 34 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C+
The offense had a small bit of a hangover. Ichiro hit a high fly to right. Winn dumped a single into centerfield. Beltre smacked a 1-1 laser over Womack's glove in leftfield for a double. Sexson looked at a strike, whiffed for another, and then whiffed at a low breaking ball for the third. Ibañez grounded out to second to end the inning. Pavano threw 14 pitches.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: C
The Mariners were Womack'd upside the head. Jeter bounced out to Beltre on the first pitch of the inning. Womack hit a ball that Boone backhanded and stopped, but he couldn't come up with it and throw. Womack stole second on the first pitch to Sheffield, and Olivo couldn't come up with the ball behind the plate, and therefore made no throw. On the 1-1 pitch to Sheffield, Womack took off for third and Olivo had the ball pop out of his glove and hence, no throw. It's kinda hard to flash that throwing arm when you can't come up with the ball. Sheffield hit the 1-2 pitch up the middle, and Boone bobbled it in the outfield, though getting Sheffield at first would have been a tough play anyway. Womack scored easily, and the Yankees had the lead.
»» YANKEES 6, MARINERS 5
It appeared the Yankees weren't done yet, as Matsui singled through the hole on the right side. Rodriguez took a 1-2 pitch over the inside corner to give everyone a small chuckle before they buried their faces in their hands and cried. Martinez worked an 0-2 count full before grounding out to Sexson, who stepped on the bag. Moyer threw 26 pitches and had 60 through two.
TOP 3RD
Grade: C-
Pavano protected his newfound lead with a 1-2-3 inning. Boone whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Reed whiffed at a high pitch with the same count. Olivo took Sheffield to the warning track in the gap on an 0-2 pitch. Pavano threw 13 pitches and was at 61 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: B-
The inning started ominously. Posada hit a ball off the wall in leftcenter, but it bounced right back to Winn, who quickly threw back to second to hold Posada to a single. Williams had a 3-1 count before hitting a full-count pitch off the end of the bat into the leftfield corner for a double. Runners were on second and third with nobody out. Sanchez hit a shallow fly to centerfield, and Valdez was able to reach over his shoulder and make the catch.
So went Jamie Moyer. Matt Thornton came into the game, and Rick Rizzs made sure to note that Thornton was gaining more and more confidence with every outing. Thornton came in with an ERA of 3.95. He proceeded to get a grounder to Boone with the infield up, then Ichiro made a running catch on a fly ball from Womack. Good enough. Thornton threw five pitches.
Moyer's line: 2 1/3 innings, 6 runs (5 earned), 10 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 71 pitches (43 strikes)
TOP 4TH
Grade: A
The Long Ball makes scoring runs a snap. Valdez flew out to left on 0-2. Ichiro took three balls, then put a lick on the 3-1 pitch, lining it over the fence in rightfield to tie it. The game was getting a bit too weird indeed. This was the Mariners' first three-homer game of the season.
»» YANKEES 6, MARINERS 6
Winn flew out to Matsui on the first pitch. Beltre hit a ball to Rodriguez at third, and it popped out of his glove. He threw to first, but it wasn't in time as a glorious E5 went into the books. Sexson had a 3-1 count and took a full-count pitch in the dirt for a free pass. Ibanez got down 0-2 and got something juicy to hit on 2-2. He put a good hurtin' on the ball, though when it hit the bat, I didn't think it was going to reach the upper deck in rightfield. It did. The Mariners somehow grabbed the lead, and a decent margin to boot. Hey, guess what? That's the Mariners' first four-homer game of the season.
»» MARINERS 9, YANKEES 6
Boone crushed the first pitch to the 399-foot marker in leftcenter over Womack's head (there's a chance Womack could have caught it). Boone had his mind made up that he was going to third, and the cutoff man Jeter ate the ball, though I thought he might have had a play on Boone steaming into third. Anyway, that went for a triple. Unfortunately, there were two out, and Reed grounded out to second on the first pitch. Pavano threw 27 pitches.
Pavano's line: 4 innings, 9 runs (5 earned), 10 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 88 pitches (60 strikes)
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: F
Here I don't get a TNT Inside the NBA promo for an upcoming showing of the movie Eraser, and I don't get the pleasure that comes from hearing Charles Barkley ripping the movie. Sheffield fouled off four pitches with a full count (including a couple that were close to being doubles down the leftfield line) before walking on a breaking ball up and in. Matsui tapped one to Sexson, who threw to second to get the lead runner. Rodriguez saw three balls, then a strike, then ball four inside. If you think like I do, you had the feeling that Tino was going to park one right here. You didn't care that Tino had an 0-2 count. He took two pitches for balls before lifting off on the 2-2 pitch, reaching that front railing over the fence in rightfield. Matt Thornton was fit to be tied, except literally.
»» YANKEES 9, MARINERS 9
Posada fouled off a 3-1 pitch, and then took a very high ball four. Bryan Price came to the mound to see what the hell was going on. Williams tapped to Thornton off the mound, and he lobbed to first. Sanchez grounded the first pitch to Valdez. Thornton threw a mere 33 pitches.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C
Paul Quantrill came in for Pavano, making me harken back to Quantrill's Toronto days when the Mariners used to just crush him. Those were the days, though, and that wouldn't happen today. Olivo and Valdez both grounded out to short. Ichiro grounded one toward the third-base line, and Rodriguez made a nice effort running to foul ground and getting off a throw, but it was late, and Ichiro got the infield single. Winn had a 2-0 count and hit a 2-2 grounder up the middle and off Jeter's glove into centerfield. Beltre ended the threat with a grounder back to the mound. Quantrill threw 15 pitches.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: D
Thornton still had some juice left in the tank. Jeter hit the first freakin' pitch of the inning just over the wall in rightcenter to put the Yankees back into the lead.
»» YANKEES 10, MARINERS 9
Womack grounded one up the middle for a single. Womack stole second on the second pitch to Sheffield. That was rendered moot when Sheffield crushed the 1-1 pitch into Monument Park (leftcenter).
»» YANKEES 12, MARINERS 9
Matsui looked at two strikes and whiffed on an inside pitch.
Thornton had to at least go out with one batter's worth of a good note, I guess. Shigetoshi Hasegawa came in for Thornton. I thought that all the game was missing was a brawl, and Hasegawa nailed Rodriguez on the elbow with a 1-2 pitch. Martinez fouled off a 1-2 pitch before grounding a ball to Sexson, who stepped on first and threw to Valdez at short, who tagged out Rodriguez to end the inning. Hasegawa threw nine pitches.
Thornton's line: 2 innings, 6 runs, 4 hits, 3 walks, 1 strikeout, 48 pitches (29 strikes)
TOP 6TH
Grade: C-
The Mariners would respond by going away 1-2-3. Sexson got down 0-2 and eventually grounded out to third. Ibañez got down 0-2 as well, taking a 1-2 pitch tailing back over the plate for strike three. Boone grounded out to Rodriguez, who knocked the ball down, had some trouble picking it up, but still nailed Boone at third to end the inning. Quantrill threw 11 pitches.
Quantrill's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 26 pitches (19 strikes)
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B-
This inning got a bit sketchy. Posada tapped back to the mound. Williams grounded a ball to Sexson, who had the ball go off his glove as he overran it (error). The Yankees put on the hit-and-run, and Sanchez hit a ball to the right side, but Boone had already broken toward second. Usually such a hit would go into rightfield with no one near it, but Boone nearly got a glove on it before it went into rightfield. Jeter had a 3-0 count that went full. He hit a ball deep down the rightfield line which was originally called as a homer, and Ichiro and a few Mariners immediately had a problem with that, since the ball went to the right of the foul pole by a few feet. After some lobbying, the umpires got the call right, and the runners and Jeter were called back to the field. It didn't get any less weird. Jeter struck out looking, and Olivo snap threw back to Hasegawa, who checked the runner at third and looked to have had Sanchez in a rundown between first and second. He took a little too long to throw the ball, and somehow Sanchez snuck back to first past the Sexson tag, which was late because of the throw. Womack hit a fly ball down the leftfield line, and Winn almost made the same catch that made the highlight reels earlier in the series, except there was no leap this time. Hasegawa threw 16 pitches.
Hasegawa's line: 1 2/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 25 pitches (17 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Grade: C
(Dar)Tanyon Sturtze came in for Quantrill. This is where I express my long-held belief that no team with Tanyon Sturtze on its roster will win a World Series. Hey, his team had a 3-0 series lead on Boston last year and lost it, so maybe I've got something here. Reed had an 0-2 count and ended up rolling one to second. Olivo grounded the second pitch to Rodriguez. Valdez stuck a 3-1 pitch through the hole on the right side for a single. Ichiro got down 0-2 and eventually lined softly to Rodriguez. Sturtze threw 17 pitches.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: A-
Jeff Nelson came in for Hasegawa and actually did pretty well, though it took a few pitches. Sheffield was down 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 frisbee outside. Matsui got ahead 2-0, but the count went full. He grounded out to Boone. Rodriguez got down 0-2, took two pitches for balls, then whiffed on a frisbee outside. Back in 2000, Rodriguez whiffed on the same pitch as a Mariner at the Safe with the bases loaded, then Edgar came up behind him and hit a grand slam. Good times. Nelson threw 16 pitches.
Nelson's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 16 pitches (10 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: C-
I really get angry when Sturtze is able to shut down my team, since I remember his hack days in Tampa Bay. Winn flew out to leftfield. Beltre grounded out to short. Sexson whiffed on a low breaking ball. Sturtze threw 13 pitches.
Sturtze's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 30 pitches (17 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C
JJ Putz came in for Nelson. Martinez got down 0-2 before flying out foul to Beltre near the bag at third. Posada hit a 2-2 rainmaker that took about ten seconds to come down just barely over the wall in rightfield.
»» YANKEES 13, MARINERS 9
Williams grounded the first pitch to the right side, and Boone picked the ball off the outfield grass and nailed the slow Williams in time. Sanchez grounded out to Boone to end the inning.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 1 run, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 13 pitches (9 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C-
Tom Gordon came in for Sturtze, and on the KOMO radio broadcast, some guy from Bremerton (a random Adam) had the misfortune of getting his name drawn for the Home Run Inning contest in a game where the Mariners had already hit four homers. Ibañez worked a 1-2 count full before whiffing on a ball up and away. Boone got down 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 breaking ball. At this point, Dave Niehaus said, "it's going to be a loooooong flight home, baby." Reed bounced the 1-1 pitch to the hole on the left side, and it was nicely placed as Jeter had no play and ate it. Greg Dobbs came in to pinch hit for Olivo, and he tapped the first pitch to Tino. Ballgame.
Gordon's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 15 pitches (10 strikes)
---
Gameball: Jeremy Reed.
Nice to see a multi-hit game out of Jeremy Reed, who had been quiet for a while. He went 2-for-5 and stole a base. I guess I'm a little apprehensive to pick one of the middle third of the lineup, each of whom struck out twice and/or made errors. Ichiro would of course be the too-obvious choice, and Winn could easily be in this spot as well, though he bobbled the one throw when Rodriguez scored, though asking Winn to get a good throw home might be a little too much to ask. I'm just hoping that Reed can warm up a little more so that he can sneak back into that #2 slot in the lineup, and especially if Adrian Beltre gets even warmer, then Reed can see all those juicy pitches and stuff. That's also so Winn can solidify the bottom third of the lineup, which will be a black hole as long as Miguel Olivo and Wilson Valdez are down there.
Goat: Matt Thornton.
There's definitely more than one possible choice for the goat. There's Jamie Moyer, of course, and there's also Wilson Valdez, who opened the floodgates with his crippling error in the first on what should have been a double play. Today, however, I'm going with Matt Thornton, who turned a three-run lead into a three-run deficit in absolutely amazing fashion. Two of his three walks came home to score on the Tino Martinez homer. When the Yankees got the lead back, they weren't waiting for walks, they were just mashing anything that Thornton threw up to the plate. Oh, that ERA that I mentioned? He came in with an ERA of 3.95, and hit the showers with an ERA of 6.89. That's a jump of 42.7%. Matt Thornton's ERA has gone WAY UP!! OH, HEMOGLOBIN!!
It's way too "last year," isn't it? Sometimes you get pitching, sometimes you get hitting. But getting both to happen in the same game is key. It hardly ever happened last year. The Mariners have been waiting for two weeks to get the offense on track, and today they did. Conversely, the pitching didn't show up. I've been harping on the starting pitching the last couple turns through the rotation, and today Jamie Moyer had his third crappy start in a row.
Actually, let's go through the last two turns in the rotation.
1 May (OAK): Piñeiro -- 8 innings, 3 runs, 8 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 100 pitches (69 strikes)
2 May (Angels): Franklin -- 5 innings, 5 runs, 5 hits, 5 walks, 3 strikeouts, 89 pitches (53 strikes)
3 May: Meche -- 8 innings, 5 runs, 8 hits, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts, 105 pitches (73 strikes)
4 May: Sele -- 4 1/3 innings, 4 runs, 6 hits, 5 walks, 2 strikeouts, 84 pitches (45 strikes)
6 May (BOS): Moyer -- 2 2/3 innings, 6 runs, 7 hits, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, 72 pitches (45 strikes)
8 May: Piñeiro -- 7 innings, 6 runs, 10 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 109 pitches (69 strikes)
8 May: Franklin -- 6 innings, 2 runs, 6 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 97 pitches (61 strikes)
9 May (NYY): Meche -- 6 2/3 innings, 3 runs, 6 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 102 pitches (56 strikes)
10 May: Sele -- 2 2/3 innings, 7 runs (6 earned), 8 hits, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts, 64 pitches (35 strikes)
11 May: Moyer -- 2 1/3 innings, 6 runs (5 earned), 10 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 71 pitches (43 strikes)
So, I've decided to be dorky for today's game post and I've plugged this crap into an Excel table. What's the sum of this stuff? 53 innings, 47 runs (45 earned), 74 hits, 21 walks, 27 strikeouts, 893 pitches (549 strikes). Just move a decimal place into all of those if you want a per-game average. What's the starters' combined ERA for this whole mess? Try 7.69.
Looking back at that stretch, I know there's probably only three decent outings out of those ten: the Franklin outing in the Sunday nightcap, the Meche outing the first game of the Yankee series, and the Piñeiro outing where he got the shaft on the first day of May. We know the bats came alive today, and we know that the bats have been getting a lot of the blame lately for being horrific and stagnant. On the other hand, WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU GOING TO DO IF YOUR STARTING PITCHERS' ERAs COME OUT TO 7.69?!??!!!?! I know the offense hasn't been doing great, but you'd need a lineup of nine Albert Pujols clones to score eight runs on a nightly basis to make up for the starting rotation's ineffectiveness (putting it politely) during this stretch. On an individual basis, and though the numbers will be hugely skewed, the ERAs are Piñeiro with 5.40, Franklin with 5.73, Meche with 4.90, Sele with 12.86, and Moyer with 19.80. Moyer's ERA over his last two starts is only 0.01 short of my birth year. His current full-season ERA is now sitting at 5.53.
Well, I guess I'll talk about the bats now. Seven of the Mariners' 14 hits went for extra bases. Multi-hit games came from Ichiro (3-for-5), Randy Winn (2-for-5), Raul Ibañez (2-for-5), Bret Boone (2-for-5), and the aforementioned Reed (gameball). Richie Sexson only had the one homer, but it was a three-run shot; he also drew the only walk for the Mariners today. Raul Ibañez had the three-run shot as well which built the lead that Thornton kicked away. Bret Boone had the homer and the triple to boost the ailing slugging percentage a bit. Adrian Beltre had a double as his only hit, but also stranded four. All in all, it was a nice day for the bats, and I loved that they tattooed Carl Pavano. The fact that Pavano and Jaret Wright were two of the biggest catches of the free-agent pitching market of last winter still befuddles me, and I'm glad the Mariners didn't get either, and I don't care if their own rotation is screwed right now. I'm convinced those two guys are one-year wonders.
Ten of 11. That's bad, no question about it. What's the solution? Well, I'm feeling a lot better about the bats than I was five days ago, but I'm still wary and I want to see how it holds up over the next couple of days. With the starting rotation, though...it's a whole different story. It's got to be pretty bad if Larry LaRue comes out with a column headlined, "Blowup leaves Sele’s job teetering." Jeremy echoed such sentiment yesterday. I guess the simple solution to that is...let's get Campy!! New pitchers are fun, but they won't save you money on car insurance.
Gonzalez. Piñeiro. Thursday.
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